Participatory evaluation in a community organization: Fostering stakeholder empowerment and utilization

Abstract

In an effort to design and implement an evaluation that fits the needs and values of our program environment, we used a participatory evaluation (PE) methodology in the context of a formative evaluation within a grass-roots community economic development (CED) organization. The evaluation was designed to meet the twin objectives of promoting the empowerment of stakeholders who became involved in designing and in implementing the evaluation, and of fostering the utilization of findings in program planning. Participating stakeholders represented the following constituencies: staff members, program funders, community agencies and institutions, service users and students. We gathered information to document the PE implementation process, its advantages, drawbacks and effects, through interviews with participating stakeholders and participant observation. Respondents reported increased self-efficacy within the organization as well as the acquisition of new skills and information. They also reported instrumental and conceptual uses of evaluation results. Based on this experience, we offer suggestions for improving PE methodology. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.